From The Second War With England To 1850.

In the new era of industrial progress which was coming, the county of Delaware occupied no secondary position in the story of that time, but it marched abreast of the commonwealth in the movement which has resulted in placing Pennsylvania in the fore-front of manufacturing States. As early as 1810, we are told by Dr. Smith,¹ an English family named Bottomly erected an addition to an old saw-mill on a small stream in Concord, and converted it into a woolen factory, to the great astonishment of the people in that neighborhood. Dennis Kelley, the same author informs us, with the assistance of a Mr. Wiest, about the beginning of the war, erected a small stone factory on Cobb's Creek, in Haverford, which enterprises, owing to the embargo and the demand for goods by the national government created by the war and the want of the people generally, the factory was compelled to run night and day up to its full capacity. The statement of Dr. Smith, however, does not give our county its due credit in early manufacturing, for in Upper Darby, in 1798, Nathan and David Sellers had a cotton-mill, and, in Darby, Isaac Oakford had a fulling-mill and stamping-works. At that date John Orna was employed there as a calico-stamper and Samuel Wetherington as a calico-printer. Previous to May, 1812, Benjamin Smith and William Stedham had begun spinning and carding at William Siter's clover-mill, near the Spread Eagle Tavern, in Radnor, and advertised that they had placed a spinning-machine in their building "which will work for customers," and also setting forth the prices demanded by them for their labor.

These factories were small, but the almost total prohibition of European goods had advanced the prices of American fabrics to such extravagant rates, and the profits realized to the manufacturers were so large that it naturally stimulated men of means, desirous of rapidly making large fortunes, to embark in the business. The result was that cotton- and wollen-mills sprang up in all parts of New England, and quite a number were located in the Middle States. In the latter the majority were woolen-factories. The war, as usually is the case, had inflated every article in prices, - flour had advanced to ten and fifteen dollars a barrel, a statement also true as respected other commodities, while real estate, during the time the nation was practically shut out from the world, had doubled and in many instances quadrupled in its supposed valuation. No sooner was peace declared than the storehouses of the Old World opened, and the superior articles of European manufacture were thrown into the American market, and being offered at less prices than the actual cost of the coarsest domestic goods, found ready sale. The English mill-owners, pressed to meet their obligations at home, realized, even at a loss on their stock, in the vain hope of being able to withstand the pressure of a falling market, and succeeded in merely prolonging the period of their financial ruin. But it finally came to them as it did to their American rivals.

The public mind in this country, notwithstanding the present losses, had been aroused to the possibilities of manufacturing on a large scale, and the intervention of Congress was had in the tariff act of 1816, which imposed a duty of twenty-five per cent. ad valorem on all cotton cloths for three years, the minimum valuation at the port of exportation being fixed at twenty-five cents per square yard, which was a specific duty of six and a quarter cents on every yard. The tariff bill, however, was a sliding one, providing for a reduction of twenty per cent. ad valorem at the end of three years, and the same rate was applicable to cotton twist, yarn, or thread, unbleached costing less than sixty cents per pound, and bleached or colored less than seventy-five cents per pound. Delaware County had, as before stated, become largely interested in manufacturing, and then, as now, the people, irrespective of party, were ardent advocates of protection. Public meetings were then held to give expression to this opinion. The first gathering of citizens in this county friendly to "Domestic Industry," which I have met with, was held at the Rose Tree Tavern, then kept by Isaac Cochran, on July 3, 1819, of which meeting Maj. William Anderson acted as president, and John Wilson secretary. It was there

"Resolved, That George G. Leiper, William Anderson, Benjamin Pearson, John Mattson, and John Willcox be a committee to draft articles for the formation of a society in Delaware County, and an address to the citizens to promote the important national object of fostering national industry."

The officers of the meeting were also instructed to publish the proceedings in the Village Record, Downingtown Republican, and Philadelphia papers, after which it adjourned to August 14th. If there was any subsequent meeting at the time designated, I have failed to find reference to it in the newspapers of that day.

In Delaware County the majority of cotton- and woolen-factories after the war, most of them hastily built or changed from ancient grist-mills and filled with crude machinery, were compelled to close, while the larger number were sold by the sheriff to meet the outstanding obligations of their owners. Indeed, we are told by John P. Crozer that about 1821 only one cotton-factory in Delaware County was in successful operation, - that of Wagstaff & Englehorn, and that that firm could continue was mainly due to the fact that the senior member of the firm was a practical cotton-spinner from England.²